MIAMI — Left-hander Eric Stults, who will make his Braves debut on Friday on the same night Atlanta plays its home opener, is grateful for the opportunity.
Stults, 35, is not a well-known player, having bounced around the major leagues for much of the past decade. He played one year in Japan (2010), and this is his fifth major league team.
He made the Braves this spring as a non-roster player.
“I’m excited to make this team,” said Stults, who will face the New York Mets on Friday. “We have a great bunch of guys.”
Braves Manager Fredi Gonzalez said he is happy to have Stults’ veteran presence on his side.
“We invited him to camp to fight for a spot, and he did a nice job,” Gonzalez said. “At that point, we only had one job open, and we had five candidates. Then it became we had two spots open because Mike (Minor) went down. (Stults) pitched pretty (well) and earned the spot in the rotation.”
Gonzalez said he was not surprised Stults made his team considering how he had eaten up innings the past two years with the San Diego Padres. In 2013, Stults went 11-13 with a 3.93 ERA in 203 innings. Last year, he went 8-17 with a 4.30 ERA in 176 innings.
Stults, though, was obviously bothered by those 17 losses and said he started to make a change last year, working with Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley.
“At the beginning of the season, I had a rough patch,” Stults said. “Then the last two or two and a half months, I really felt I started throwing the ball well.
“If there was a tweak, it was picking up the tempo in my delivery. I was too slow or deliberate. Just (picking up the pace) was a change I made last season and have tried to continue this (spring).”
Stults said the change has fooled batters so far.
“As far as velocity, there wasn’t anything drastic there. But I do think it created deception,” Stults said. “It looked like there was more aggression behind my pitches, which threw the hitters off.”
Stults said his advice to young pitchers who want to have longevity in the majors is to do what he has done — be open to new ideas.
“Keep working to get better,” Stults said. “At 34 last year, to find something in my delivery … It was something I was searching for. It wasn’t like, ‘I know what I’m doing. Leave me alone.’ It was, ‘Hey, let’s find something. It’s not working.’
“It’s about not being content at where you are at and being open to listening to guys like (Braves pitching coach Roger (McDowell) and what he’s been able to do with pitchers here over the years.”